MARINE BIOLOGY (MAR111)
COURSE SYLLABUS – SPRING 2013
SUFFOLK COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE
AMMERMAN CAMPUS
Lecture: Monday and Wednesday 9:30 – 10:45AM in M15
Laboratory: Wednesday 12:30 – 2:20PM in M10
Instructor: Prof. Marianne E. McNamara
Office: Smithtown Science Bldg; Room T221
Email: mcnamam@sunysuffolk.edu
Phone: (631) 451-4688
Website: www2.sunysuffolk.edu/mcnamam
Office Hours: Monday 2:00 – 3:00PM (via email or appointment only) and 3:00 –
4:00PM; Tuesday 12:45 – 1:45PM; Wednesday 8:45 – 9:15AM; 3:00 – 4:00PM;
Thursday 1:15 – 1:45PM
Course Description: By means of lectures, laboratory exercises, and field trips, the
student will explore the diversity of life in the marine environment. This course is
designed for non-science students.
Course Goals: To provide an engaging and stimulating learning environment for
students to: apply the scientific method in laboratory and field exercises; understand the
properties of water and how its physical and chemical characteristics affect and influence
marine organisms; define diversity and to interpret the major characteristics of marine
organisms in the context of their evolutionary relationships; identify marine producers
and consumers and to classify these organisms into their major invertebrate and chordate
phyla; to explain the strategies that enable adaption of organisms to their marine
environment; to interpret the distribution of life in the oceans and other marine
environments in the context of their adaptations; provide examples of environmental
problems facing marine communities; and to give students the basis to cultivate a sense
of stewardship for marine life and ecosystems.
Required Text and Materials: Marine Biology. 9th Edition. Peter Castro and Michael E.
Huber. McGraw Hill Higher Education. 2009. 8th edition is also acceptable.
Laboratory and Field Investigations in Marine Life. 9th Edition. James Sumich and
Gordon Dudley. WCB/McGraw Hill. 2009
Gloves are required for the laboratory.
Attendance Policy:
 Attendance at lecture sessions is expected, and you are responsible for any
materials/lectures missed. Attendance will be taken at every meeting as per
college protocol. The College defines excessive absence or lateness as more than
the equivalent of one week of class meetings during the semester.
 Attendance at laboratory meetings is required. Students who miss more than
one (1) lab session may be dropped from the course. If you know in advance
that you will miss a laboratory meeting or have missed one due to illness,
emergency, etc., it is your responsibility to make-up this session. However, this is
dependent on permission of the other instructor and the availability of other
laboratory meetings, and you will need written documentation of your make-up
by the instructor. Please see me if you need to make such arrangements.
 The last official date to withdraw from the course is March 19, 2013. Students
wishing to withdraw from class after this date must contact me and complete a
withdraw slip from the registrar’s office, which I must sign. All students who go
AWOL without completing a withdraw form will automatically receive a grade
of “F”.
 A student may be removed from the class roster by an instructor at any time
when, in the judgment of the instructor, absences have been excessive or when a
student is disruptive or disrespectful. Leaving laboratory class early (or arriving
late) is not permitted.
Notes: Lectures will be presented using Power Point. All Power Point lectures will be
posted on my website. PLEASE PRINT THESE NOTES PRIOR TO OUR CLASS
MEETING to take notes on during lecture.
Laboratory Schedule: Laboratory schedule generally follows the timeline of the course
outline. This course includes field trips as well as laboratory exercises. Due to the
length of time these field trips take, some trips will be held on a weekend and/or alternate
date. Your attendance on these field trips is expected (as is outlined in the course
catalogue). I understand that many students have other commitments during these times,
but it is necessary for you to make arrangements in advance to attend. If you cannot
attend a trip, you will receive a ‘zero’ for that lab. These field trips are the best part of the
course and enjoyed well by students. The details of these field trips will be distributed
early in the semester. Please see schedule below.
Personal transportation (i.e., car) to these field trips is also necessary. As per college
protocol, I am UNABLE to transport any students in my personal vehicle. You may wish
to make arrangements with other students to carpool together in advance of the trip.
Details for all field trips will be given in class.
Course Lecture Outline:
Date
Topic
Required Text Readings
01/23
Introduction/Science of Marine Biology
Chapter 1
01/28
Earth, Oceans and Seafloor
Chapter 2
01/30
Earth, Oceans and Seafloor
02/04
Properties of Seawater
Chapter 3
02/06
Fundamentals of Biology
Chapter 4 (4a in notes)
02/11
Diversity of Life/Classification
Chapter 4 (4b in notes)
02/13
The Microbial World: Viruses, Prokaryotes, Fungi
Chapter 5
02/18
NO CLASS – PRESIDENT’S DAY
02/20
Lecture Exam #1
02/25
The Microbial World: Protists
Chapter 5
02/27
Multi-cellular Primary Producers
Chapter 6
03/04
Plankton
Chapter 15
03/06
Marine Invertebrates
Chapter 7 (7a in notes)
03/06
TAXONOMY PROJECT DUE!
03/11
Marine Invertebrates (continued)
Chapter 7 (7b in notes)
03/13
Marine Invertebrates (continued)
03/18
Marine Invertebrates (continued)
Chapter 7 (7c in notes)
03/20
Lecture Exam #2
03/25
NO CLASS – SPRING BREAK
03/27
NO CLASS – SPRING BREAK
04/01
Marine Invertebrates (continued)
Chapter 7
04/03
Marine Vertebrates – Fishes
Chapter 8 (8a in notes)
04/08
Marine Vertebrates – Fishes (continued)
Chapter 8 (8b in notes)
04/15
Marine Vertebrates – Fishes (continued)
04/17
WEST MEADOW BEACH FIELD TRIP – MEET AT 1:00PM
04/19
Deep Sea Biology
Chapter 16
04/22
Marine Vertebrates – Reptiles
Chapter 9
04/24
Marine Vertebrates – Reptiles
04/29
Lecture Exam #3
05/01
0Marine Vertebrates – Birds
Chapter 9
05/06
Marine Vertebrates - Mammals
Chapter 9
05/08
Marine Vertebrates - Mammals
05/13
Marine Vertebrates - Mammals
05/15
Final Exam – GOOD LUCK!
Course Laboratory Outline:
Date
Laboratory_________________________________________
01/23
Introduction
01/30
Introduction to microscopy
02/06
Taxonomy Boot Camp
02/13
Taxonomic Classification and Identification
02/20
NO LAB
02/27
Marine Plants and Algae
03/06
Plankton
03/13
Lower Marine Invertebrates – Sponges, Ctenophores, Cnidarians, and
Worms
03/20
Molluscs (clam, squid)
03/27
NO LAB – SPRING BREAK
04/03
Arthropods and Echinoderms
*04/06 (SAT)
ATLANTIS MARINE WORLD FIELD TRIP 10:00AM
04/10
NO LAB (MAKE-UP FOR AQUARIUM)
04/17
WEST MEADOW BEACH FIELD TRIP 9:30AM
04/24
Cartilaginous and Bony Fish
05/01
Lab Exam
05/08
Movie and discussion
Examinations and Grading:
A. Lecture Grade (45%):
a. Three exams will be given. These exams may consist of multiple choice,
fill-in, matching, short answer, and essay questions. Anything covered in
lecture is ‘fair game’ for the exam, as well as information obtained from
your required readings and laboratory exercises. Together, these three
exams will constitute 45% of your course grade, with the two best exams
counting towards 20% each of your total grade, and your worst exam
counting 5%.
b. Extra credit/Alternate grading: Students have the option of keeping a
scientific journal which would count as 5% of your lecture exam grade.
Under this option, the optional assignment would replace your lowest
exam grade. Details on the assignment will be handed out in class. As an
added incentive, journal assignments receiving an “A” will result in 2
additional points being added to your final grade; a journal receiving a
“B” will result in 1 additional point added to your final grade. No
additional points will be given for assignments receiving any grade less
than a “B”.
c. There will be NO make-up exams in this course. If you miss an exam for
any reason, you will receive a “0” for that exam. In this case, you are
strongly advised to do the optional assignment to replace this zero with an
actual grade. Only under extremely unusual circumstances will a remake
exam be given.
B. Laboratory Grade: Your laboratory grade will constitute 30% of your course
grade and is calculated according to the following matrix:
Laboratory work (including field trip attendance AND PARTICIPATION): 10%
of grade
Lab check-out questions, quizzes and laboratory notebook: 10% of grade
Lab Exam (Final): 10% of grade
C. Final Examination: A comprehensive final exam will be given on the last day of
the course. This exam will constitute 20% of your course grade.
D. Taxonomy Project: All students will be given two species which they must
classify and describe (details will be given in class). This project will account for
5% of your course grade.
E. Academic dishonesty of any kind will not be tolerated and will result in a ZERO
grade for that assignment. Additionally, any student caught cheating, plagiarizing,
falsifying assignments or in violation of the student code of conduct will lose any
and all points previously earned on extra credit assignments, and will lose the
right to participate in any future extra credit opportunities.
F. Final grade scale: In accordance with college policy, the following letter grades
will be assigned based upon your final score:
A = 90-100; B+ = 85-89; B = 80-84; C+ = 75-79; C = 70-74; D+ = 65-69; D = 6064; F = 59 or below
General Information and Class Policies:
 Academic integrity: Cheating (including but not limited to glancing at other
student’s work, talking during exams, using notes during examination, etc),
plagiarism, falsification of records/data, and other violations of the student code
constitute violation of this provision and will not be tolerated. Academic
misconduct will be reported to the appropriate office for resolution and students in
violation of the academic integrity code may be removed from the class or the
course at the discretion of the instructor. I reserve the right to relocate students
during exams in support of this policy.
 Late work: All assignments are due on the date assigned. Exceptions will only be
made if you have been given permission beforehand or under extremely unusual
circumstances.
 Classroom Conduct: Please respect the instructor and students by arriving on
time, and silencing your cell phones, pagers, etc. Text messaging is NOT
permitted in class and is considered disruptive. I reserve the right to remove
any student for texting, and/or other disruptive behavior at any time.
 Study Hints: Take notes during lecture meetings. If something is unclear, ask
questions! You are probably not the only one wondering.
 Study Hints: Be sure to keep up with the required readings. Make note of
anything that is unclear and ask for clarification as necessary. When reading the
text, refer to all figures and tables and make sure you understand the diagrams,
photos, etc. Good figures condense a large amount of information, so expect to
spend a lot of time studying figures. The course covers a very extensive amount
of material with a good degree of difficulty and technical ‘jargon’. Be prepared to
spend sufficient time reading the text, reviewing your notes, and resolving your
laboratory exercises, reports, etc. Seek the help of fellow students and friends, and
of course, see me if you have any questions or concerns.
 Please be advised that students are not permitted to leave class during an exam,
unless they have completed the exam and handed it in to the instructor. Please
make any necessary arrangements (e.g., bathroom breaks) prior to the exam.
 Laptops are permitted for note-taking purposes in class only with the prior
permission of the instructor. If granted permission, you must sit in the back of the
classroom to minimize distraction and understand that such use may be regulated
according to college and course policies.
 For students with disabilities and/or “Special Services” notices please see me
immediately at the start of the semester. I will do everything I can, within reason
and school policy, to accommodate your needs.
 Have fun! Marine biology is an incredibly exciting and fun topic (and Shark
Week comes but only once a year...) Make the most of your time spent in lecture
and lab by paying attention, asking questions, and enjoying the subject matter!
AMMERMAN CAMPUS CENTERS FOR STUDENT INDEPENDENT
LEARNING: Biology Learning Center: Kreiling Hall, Room M-23.
Academic Computing and Internet Center: Huntington Library, lower floor.
Electronic and Print Resource Center: Huntington Library, lobby floor.
Writing Center: Islip Arts Building, Room 116.